As the Union government explores ways to restrict import of laptops and other electronic devices starting with a 5 per cent reduction from the current level, it is working to ensure that there's no supply disruption in India even if an import cap is introduced, it is learnt. The caveat assumes significance in the context of the government's announcement of its plan in August 2023 to issue licences for import of select IT hardware products to reduce the country's dependence on China.
Indications are that the Tata Sons stand on listing of the company may come up for a discussion even if it's not part of the agenda
Samsung is losing the race in India's premium smartphone market as rival Apple continues to increase its dominance in the segment, driven by robust iPhone sales and festival season discounts. Shortly after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced an all-time revenue record in India yet again for the September quarter, the company recorded its best-ever quarter of shipments at four million units in the third quarter of calendar year 2024 (Q3CY24), led by the iPhone 15 and iPhone 13, according to a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC).
Framing the next chapter in Swiggy's journey as a responsible corporate citizen, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Sriharsha Majety unveiled the company's eagerly awaited public listing. Majety, who has largely shunned the spotlight, shared reflections on his entrepreneurial path and the strategic pivots he and his co-founders navigated in building Swiggy. "We started with code aggregation, then pivoted to logistics, and that became Swiggy.
Reliance Jio, the telecom business of the Mukesh Ambani-promoted conglomerate, is expected to go for an initial public offering (IPO) of over $6.25 billion either in the second or the third quarter of the calendar year 2025, sources said. Reliance Retail is likely to be listed around the same time with a short gap, it is learnt. The timing of the two IPOs, however, will depend on the company's assessment of the market conditions among other factors.
The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Tuesday asked e-commerce and quick-commerce food operators to ensure a minimum shelf life of 30 per cent or at least 45 days before products expire at the time of delivery. The order follows rising concerns over violations of food safety standards in quick-commerce and e-commerce.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sought a meeting with quick-commerce (qcom) platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto on Tuesday to discuss issues regarding violations of food safety standards, according to sources familiar with the matter. This comes at a time when there have been issues raised about food safety standard violations by qcom platforms for packaged food products, including violations related to expiry and best before dates.
India's smartphone market grew by three per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in volume in the third quarter (Q3) of calendar year 2024, while its value surged by 12 per cent Y-o-Y to reach an all-time record for a single quarter, according to a report by research firm Counterpoint. The value growth was driven by an ongoing premiumisation trend, while the increase in volume was driven by an earlier onset of the festival season compared to the previous year.
Ratan Tata: A Life, the much awaited biography, reveals that after a year of 'parallel running', Tata began having second thoughts about Cyrus Mistry's 'suitability'. 'Mistry targeted Ratan, the man who had elevated him from virtual oblivion into the mainstream of the Tatas...'
'It's the second-largest market for us after the US, and should be the largest market at some point.'
Bengaluru-based Sunny Gupta had been searching for a laptop for months. In August, while sitting at a coffee shop, he decided to order an Acer Predator laptop - typically priced between Rs 95,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh - through the quick-commerce (q-com) platform Flipkart Minutes. "It took exactly 13 minutes from payment to receiving it at the Starbucks I ordered it to," he wrote in a now-viral post on social media platform X.
For food aggregator platform Swiggy, quick commerce (qcom) is proving to be a better growth opportunity than food delivery. Its qcom arm Instamart is rapidly outpacing its core food delivery vertical across several key financial metrics, the company's recently filed draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) shows.
Whether it's Carrefour, Ford, or other foreign majors, they are ready to adjust their strategies and design their plans in a way that would address the Indian consumption story.
As quick commerce gains ground, emerging direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are betting big on digital channels to drive growth. According to Aman Gupta, co-founder of wearables brand BoAt, new-age brands in India have been expanding at a much faster pace than expected, driven by digital channels like quick-commerce. "Investors doubted the potential of D2C brands when we started, but today there are multiple brands in the startup market that are growing on the shoulders of these digital channels," Gupta said while addressing a session at Razorpay's D2C and Retail Summit recently.
After making the model work in metro cities, players in the quick commerce sector are rapidly expanding their footprint into smaller tier 2 cities and markets beyond that ahead of the festival season.
The government is set to examine concerns over quick commerce companies potentially undermining businesses of local kirana stores, particularly in the context of the draft Digital Competition Bill, according to official sources. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs recently raised the issue with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs during discussions around the proposed legislation. "We need to assess if and how the Bill can address these concerns and explore further steps to include provisions to keep a check," a senior official stated.
Quick commerce major Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO). This is Zepto's third big-ticket fundraise within a year. With this, the company has raised more than $1 billion in 12 months.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal's recent comments on large e-commerce players have reignited the debate about their impact on smaller offline retailers. On Wednesday, Goyal said that the rapid growth of e-commerce in India is a "cause for concern" and is diminishing the market share of small, mom-and-pop stores by offering high-margin products such as consumer electronics and apparel at discounted rates.
With the recent launch of smartwatches, home-grown smartphone maker Lava is looking to secure a strong foothold in the Indian wearables market. The company aims to capture up to 20 per cent of this segment over the next few years, according to a senior executive.
Companies like Flipkart, Amazon and Meesho as well as quick commerce ones like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart may create hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs for the coming festival season.
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